Jobs Report: Not Terrible, Not Really Anything to Celebrate
Job growth has picked up a bit, but not enough to relieve years of labor market stagnation.
The Reuters headline on the new jobs report was frankly amazing: "U.S. jobs growth quickens, giving Obama some relief". I'm sure that's true; it's just a pity it wasn't more relief to, say, jobless people. Don't get me wrong; having 171,000 new jobs is better than not having 171,000 new jobs. But it's not good. It still leaves us with a 7.9% unemployment rate, and millions more detached from the labor force because they've given up, or marginally attached, or working part-time because no full-time work is available. The long-term unemployed remain in deep trouble. And we are still not seeing the kind of robust labor markets that could restore their depreciated human capital, bringing them back to the community of working people.
It feels repetitive to write this month after month, but this is where we are: an achingly slow recovery that is leaving far too many Americans with far too few options. It's not new, but it always bears repeating.
See more of our coverage in your search results.
Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.